The logo of Yaama Dhiyaan Hospitality Training Center in Sydney features an emu, the totem of Aunty Beryl, the aboriginal elder who heads the program. Among the indigenous tribes of Australia, it is forbidden to eat your totem.

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Originally published on June 17, 2014 4:48 pm

If you teach an aboriginal man (or woman) to make a cappuccino, can you feed his career for a lifetime?

That's the hope at Yaama Dhiyaan, a cooking and hospitality school for at-risk indigenous young people in Australia.

Students there are learning the skills to be cooks, restaurant and hotel workers, and caterers. The school is also helping to reconnect them to their culture, disrupted when many of their grandparents were kidnapped off the land, forced into missionary schools and denied the right to vote until the 1960s.

Aunty Beryl Van-Oploo is an aboriginal elder who heads the school. She is from the Gamillera tribe and grew up on a reservation about 500 miles from Sydney in New South Wales.

"They asked me to name the school," says Aunty Beryl, "so I thought I might as well say 'hello' in my own Yuwaalaraay language. Yaama means 'hello' and Dhiyaan means 'family.' So it's 'Hello family and friends' when you come here."

Among the skills the students learn at Yaama Dhiyaan is how to make cappuccinos and other specialty coffee drinks.

"A lot of aboriginal people wouldn't go near a cappuccino machine," she laughs. "Actually, we don't drink it. We were never brought up with coffee. ... We were tea drinkers."

The school takes about 20 students per session for the eight-week cooking and hospitality course.

"I've been cooking all my life. I'm from the bush," says James Wilden, a 20-year-old student who recently completed the program. "I've cooked kangaroo, goanna [a local lizard], yabbies [crustaceans]."

Wilden grew up in a family with 15 brothers and eight sisters. Times got hard. He and most of his brothers have been in and out of jail all their lives. While he was in the school, Wilden was incarcerated in a jail but was allowed to leave to take daily classes at Yaama Dhiyaan.

"When I was younger I made some bad decisions," Wilden says. "That's why I'm in this course: to make my life better."

"Most of the people in our class are aboriginal — boys, girls, mothers, fathers, cousins," says 20-year-old Molly Meribito. Her family is from the Bundjalung tribe from the border of Queensland and New South Wales. She got pregnant at 16, and since she hasn't had much to do lately, her family recommended that she go learn with Aunty Beryl.

"We're lucky if we get 12 to stay" in the program, says Aunty Beryl.

"Sometimes they can't cope," says Aunty Beryl. "When you're ready, you come back. And we've had that happen to one of our young lads. He went away for a year, and he came back and he said, 'Aunty Beryl, I'm ready to be a chef.' "

Classified As Unemployable

Australia's history of racial discrimination against the Aborigines is a long one. And young members of this minority group who have criminal records and previous drug histories, or who got pregnant as teenagers, are not who people usually want to hire.

"Traditionally, the students that we train are classified as unemployable — that's what the society has labeled them as," says Dani Hore, who manages the Aboriginal Employment Program that oversees Yaama Dhiyaan.

The Employment Program also offers a carpentry and construction course downstairs from the cooking school. Aunty Beryl's students prepare lunch each day for themselves and the students studying to be electricians, carpenters and plumbers.

"So many young people don't even have a home to live in," Hore says. "One student, who we actually got employment for, was living in a tree. He had nowhere to live, and the tree was safe because it was up off the ground."

Bush Tucker

Just as many chefs and traditional cooks in Australia are interested in integrating traditional foods into modern-day cooking, the students are learning to prepare and eat Chinese stir-fry, French baguettes, Italian pasta.

The through line is cooking fresh, local and seasonal whenever possible. That, for Aunty Beryl, leads to bush tucker.

"Bush tucker is what we got off the land, and that is why we are introducing it again, connecting students to their culture through food," says Aunty Beryl.

"You have your seafood like barramundi," she adds. "It's got a real bushy sort of flavor. It's got that woody, tart flavor. Wrap it in gum leaves and throw it on an open fire. Then it will cook in its own oils."

Another favorite of Aunty Beryl is the finger lime. "I call it the aboriginal caviar," she says. "When you split it and open it up, it's got little lime modules inside that look like caviar. They are really great on fresh oysters."

You Can't Eat Your Totem

The students are also learning to make emu prosciutto. But Aunty Beryl doesn't eat the ostrichlike bird that some say tastes like steak.

"My totem is an emu, so I don't eat it," she says. "It's an animal that we worship." A totem is a being, an animal or plant, that serves as a sacred symbol to an aboriginal clan or tribe. A totem connects people, ancestors and mythic past.

Ricardo Golding's totem is a turtle. He has come to Yaama Dhiyaan just out of high school. "I had nothing to do," says the 17-year-old. "I'm not that smart, but I'm doing my work. I used to get picked on a lot at school, because of the sound of my voice. The way I act. I was very afraid to go into class. I missed out on a lot of lessons. Here, the cooking is the part I like the most."

"The biggest thing our students or anybody has to deal with," says Aunty Beryl, "is their self-confidence."

The Stolen Generation

The history of the treatment of native cultures in Australia is a dark one. Whole generations of children were taken away from their parents, forced into missionary schools, native language forbidden, traditional foods taken away, whole clans forced off their own lands and onto reservations, cultures denied the right to vote until the 1960s.

Jamie Rayburch works with Aunty Beryl, helping out with the hospitality and training program. "My grandfather was part of the 'Stolen Generation.' He was stolen away when he was 5 years old and put into a cattle ranch and then into an all-boys orphanage. He never knew his parents. My grandmother's the same."

"I'm 24 years old," says Jamie, "and I'm still trying to understand what that's all about and how that affected my family, my culture, myself. I think that this generation — the Stolen Generation — has kind of almost been forgotten, where our culture came from, where the food derives from as well."

Dani Hore from the Employment Program says the aboriginal teachers and mentors at Yaama Dhiyaan are providing important role models for the youth.

"Once these young people come to Yaama Dhiyaan," says Dani, "they know that they are in a caring, loving environment where they are going to be taught vocational skills. But they are also going to be taught about self-respect and self-esteem and life skills that a parent would normally teach about punctuality, cleanliness, how to talk to people, how to eat together. It's a very short period of time, but it's quite transformational."

'It's James' Journey Now'

Along with learning to make lemon myrtle rose tarts, the perfect long black coffee and emu prosciutto, and how to card people and look for fake IDs to make sure people walking into a bar are old enough to drink — all skills required in Australia's hospitality and cooking industry — Yaama Dhiyaan is providing a vision for a future, and a sense of community.

James Wilden is preparing to graduate from his program in the next few weeks.

"I just love cooking," James says. "I love the smell. When I get out and get out of trouble, I want to be a chef."

James is eager to start his work, but he tears up at the thought of leaving the deep community of this Australian hidden kitchen.

Before he gets too broken up, Aunty Beryl speaks for her school. "We're looking at James going up into the Northern Territory and becoming an apprentice chef up there. I know James will be a success because his heart is in it. At the end of the day, it's James' journey now, once he leaves here. But, we're only a phone call away, because that's what Yaama's all about that. We're always going to be there as part of his journey."

You can find more Hidden Kitchen stories and Web extras, including bush tucker recipes, at kitchensisters.org.

Copyright 2014 NPR. To see more, visit http://www.npr.org/.

Transcript

RENEE MONTAGNE, HOST:

Hidden Kitchens, this morning, takes us cooking with an aboriginal elder. In Sydney, Australia, Aunty Beryl Van-Oploo runs a cooking school for indigenous young people. Aunty Beryl trains her students for jobs, and she's also teaching them to cook with traditional aboriginal foods from their lands known as bush tucker. That's helping reconnect many young people to their indigenous culture, one nearly destroyed when parents and grandparents were forced off their land into missionary schools. The kitchen Sisters, Davia Nelso and Nikki Silva, bring us this portrait of Aunty Beryl and the Yaama Dhiyaan cooking and hospitality school.

AUNTY BERYL VAN-OPLOO: Hello everybody. At the end of the room, we have our kitchen - cappucino machine here. Students practice on the machine. They learn to make cappuccinos and lattes, piccolos, short black, and long black. A lot of aboriginal people wouldn't go near a cappuccino machine. Actually, we don't drink it. We were never brought up with coffee - it's only just recently. We were tea drinkers. I'm Aunty Beryl Van-Oploo. Our hospitality school is Yaama Dhiyaan. So yaama means hello and Dhiyaan means family in my own with. So it means hello family, when you come here.

JAMES WILDON: I've been cooking all my life. I'm from the bush. I've cooked a lot of kangaroo, (unitelligible) . My name's James Wildon (PH). I'm 20 years old. The place we're at now is Yaama Dhiyaan, and we're doing a hospitality course. We cook healthy food. We serve. We clean. We learn. I am from a big family. I've got 15 brothers and eight sisters. When I was younger, I made some bad decisions. I've been held in custody. I'm in jail at the moment. I get out in six weeks. That's why I come to this course - to make my life better.

MOLLY MERIBITO: Most of the people in our class are aboriginal - boys and girls, mothers, fathers, cousins. My name is Molly Meribito (PH). I'm 20. My family are Bundalong from the border of Queensland and New South Wales. I got, like, pregnant young. I was, like, 16. He'll be 3 in December. My grandmother is friends with Aunty Beryl. They go way back. So they were like, you have not much to do, so you should go and learn with her.

VAN-OPLOO: We normally take about 20, but we're lucky if we get 12 to stay. We allow for dropouts. Sometimes, they can't cope. When you're ready, you come back. And we've had that happen to one of our young lads. He went away for a year and then he came back and he said, Aunty Beryl, I'm ready to be a chef.

DANNY HALL: You know, traditionally, the people who we train would be classified as unemployable. That's what the society has labeled them as.

I'm Danny Hall, and I managed the Aboriginal employment program. So many young people don't even have a home to live in. One student, who we actually got employment, was living in a tree. He had nowhere to live, and the tree was safe 'cause it was up, off the ground.

My name is Kylie Kwong and my restaurant Billy Kwong is in Sydney, Australia. I came across Aunty Beryl's school at every farmers market. She's an aboriginal elder. She sells Australian bush tucker produce, jams and marmalade. She's got beautiful big hands and long fingers. She's really elegant. She's just got this lovely warmth and wisdom.

VAN-OPLOO: Bush tucker is what we got off the land. It's a native food. We're introducing it again. You have your fruits, your nuts, your yams, lemon myrtle, barramundi - a fish - real bushy, sort of woody flavor to it - Gum leaves - throw it on an open fire. Then it'll cook in it's own oils - kangaroo stir fly - kangaroo (unintelligible) you can stuff it with mushrooms. We also have (untillegible) prosciutto. So we're getting really clever. But my totem is an emu, so we don't eat it. It's an animal that we worship.

RICARDO GOLDING: You can't eat your totem. My totem is a turtle. My name is Ricardo Golding (PH). By tribe name is (unitelligible). We're doing a course here - a hospitality course. I'm 17. I just recently finished year-12 at school. And I had nothing to do. They just told me about Yaama Dhiyaan. I'm not that smart, but I'm doing my work. Is used to get picked on a lot at school. - the sound of my voice, the way I act. I was very afraid to go into class. I missed out on a lot of lessons. Here, the cooking part I really like the most.

VAN-OPLOO: The biggest thing our students or anybody has to deal with is the self-confidence and that they can do it. When I was growing up, it was limited. I grew up on a reservation. My mom died when I was 14-years-of-age. My aunt had seven of her own children - didn't want to separate us. So there were 17 of us. We were just all in a shack - four in the bedroom. But I always said that I would learn to read and write because my elders said that I needed to do that. And I did. I came to Sydney when I was 16 and got a job as a nanny. I finally got an education at 31-years-of-age.

From the day the first ships arrived, the foreigners brought with them enormous challenges to the country. People lived in tolerance of each other until people's resources were threatened. The aboriginal people's resources were threatened because their natural hunting grounds were taken over by farmers - who - their resource were then threatened when aboriginal people came to get some of the harvest or to kill a beast. You just had a cultural clash. But like all humans, everybody was just trying to eat.

WILDON: I love cooking. I love the smell. When I get out - stay out of trouble. I want to be a chef.

VAN-OPLOO: We are looking at James going up into the Northern Territory, becoming an apprentice chef up there. We know James will be a success because his heart's in it. At the end of the day, it's James's journey now, once he leaves here. But we're only a phone call away 'cause that's what Yaama's all about. We're always going to be there as part of his journey.

MONTAGNE: Hidden Kitchen, Australia was produced by the Kitchen Sisters and mixed by Jim McKee.